Part 8 (1/2)

'Is there nothing else you would say to me?'

Kalus' heart sank. He KNEW! Despair overtook him at the last.

'I--- I took from your cave a weapon. Please believe me, it was not for myself alone. If you had banished us from the mountain..... I have only this knife.' He threw it weakly to the ground.

Skither waited patiently, and at length Kalus looked up at him. Again he signaled slowly. 'Be at peace. I am not angry. You may keep the sword, and one other weapon of your choosing.' Kalus stared in disbelief.

'You please me, Kalus, though you do not know it. I see that you learned long ago the lesson of self-reliance. Now you must learn a harder lesson still: when to trust. What you did this night took great courage; you have not changed my mind against you. Only. Hear me, Kalus, I do not give my thoughts easily. Sometimes it is better to trust, even at the price of great pain..... Your heart will know. But do not carry the weight alone. It will crush you.

'That is all. Be at peace.' Kalus lifted the knife and moved away.

But as he walked stiffly toward the steep but pa.s.sable incline, he felt love for the Monarch swell his heart to bursting, and hard tears pus.h.i.+ng at his eyes. As he climbed to rejoin the girl, Akar went with Skither into his cave to receive further instruction. Sylviana met her new friend on the parapet.

'What did he say?'

Kalus did not answer at once, but took her by the hand and led her to the one place in the enclosure where both could stand without stooping.

Reaching it he embraced her, but did not cry. He backed away, then sat down to gather his thoughts.

'We can stay, until his return, at least.'

She knelt before him. 'What about the sword?'

'I was right. He did see me. But he is not angry, and he said that I could keep it. He said I was very brave.'

'That's because you are.'

'No.' He looked across at her sternly. 'Sylviana. You must know, this is only a beginning. I am grateful for your compa.s.sion last night, and I am in your debt. But there is still much work to do, and much danger. There are so many ways that the Wild can beat us..... And we must be prepared to leave here in twenty days.'

'Yes. I know.' Her tone was lowered. 'But at least you're not alone.' She reached out and touched his beard with the back of her fingers. He moved the hand away, but without anger or secret pain.

It was morning still.

Chapter 9

'Sylviana, come here. This is something you must see.' She went out and stood beside him on the parapet. Skither was preparing to leave.

He stood solid with legs spread and hooked claws clinging, his abdomen expanding and contracting as he prepared for the single thrust that would send a ma.s.sive burst of air through the small opening in his purposely dislocated jaw.

He let the final breath gather inside him. Then spreading his wings for balance, he exhaled in a quick and powerful motion. The result was a whistling sound so loud and shrill that it wounded the hearing even through covered ears. All the Valley seemed to hush in its aftermath, an echo of silence, as if all life for miles around had stopped its breath to listen. Indeed, thought the girl, even a creature that did not know the ma.s.sive killer from which it emanated, would be sure to stay far clear of the place from which the sound had come. The Mantis rested for a short time, then repeated its territorial warning.